Mahabharata 9.46.12 — Shalya Parva, Adhyaya 46, Shloka 12

Varuṇābhiṣeka–Agni-anveṣaṇa–Kaubera-tīrtha

Varuṇa’s Consecration; Search for Agni; Kaubera Sacred Site

Devanagari script

ऋक्षाम्बिका निष्कुटिका वामा चत्वरवासिनी । सुमड्ला स्वस्तिमती बुद्धिकामा जयप्रिया

Transliteration

ṛkṣāmbikā niṣkuṭikā vāmā catvaravāsinī | sumaḍlā svastimatī buddhikāmā jaypriyā

Translation

Vaiśampāyana disse: “(Havia mulheres chamadas) Ṛkṣāmbikā, Niṣkuṭikā, Vāmā e Catvaravāsinī; e também Sumaḍlā, Svastimatī, Buddhikāmā e Jaypriyā.”

Word by Word

• ऋक्षाम्बिका: R̥kṣāmbikā (a goddess/name)
• ऋक्षाम्बिका: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: ऋक्षाम्बिका
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• निष्कुटिका: Niṣkuṭikā (a goddess/name)
• निष्कुटिका: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: निष्कुटिका
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• वामा: Vāmā (fair/pleasant; also a name)
• वामा: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वाम
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• चत्वरवासिनी: she who dwells at the crossroads/square
• चत्वरवासिनी: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: चत्वरवासिनी
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• सुमण्डला: Sumāṇḍalā / the well-circled one (name/epithet)
• सुमण्डला: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: सुमण्डला
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• स्वस्तिमती: auspicious; possessing well-being
• स्वस्तिमती: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स्वस्तिमत्
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• बुद्धिकामा: desirous of intelligence/wisdom
• बुद्धिकामा: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: बुद्धिकामा
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• जयप्रिया: fond of victory
• जयप्रिया: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: जयप्रिय
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Ṛkṣāmbikā
• Niṣkuṭikā
• Vāmā
• Catvaravāsinī
• Sumaḍlā
• Svastimatī
• Buddhikāmā
• Jaypriyā

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse is primarily documentary rather than didactic: it preserves specific names within the epic’s transmitted history. In the Mahābhārata’s ethical frame, such cataloging underscores the value of remembrance—individual lives and identities are not erased even amid the vast violence of war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana is reciting a list of named women (or persons with feminine names) as part of a larger descriptive or genealogical passage in Śalya Parva, Adhyāya 46, continuing the epic’s practice of recording participants and relations connected to the events around the Kurukṣetra war.